News stories tagged with "school"

(01/25/12) HAMMOND, N.Y. (AP) Authorities say a state police bomb disposal unit had to be called to a northern New York school after a homemade explosive device was found in a student's gym locker, along with a machete and hunting knife. more

(11/15/11) Over the last few months, a new music and dance club at Sackets Harbor High School has grown from a few students to more than 30. The Glee Club focuses mostly on music, but there's an anti-bullying message, too.

Joanne Heaslip is the leader of Sackets Harbor's Parent Teacher Organization and manager of the Glee Club. She's hoping the arts and music will build self-confidence in students. The TV show Glee has made the club popular and even students from other districts have joined.

Heaslip told Todd Moe that Thursday night rehearsals are fun, but she wants the experience to help students who sometimes feel bullied in school to build self-respect and confidence. For more information about Sackets Harbor's Glee Club: slips824@yahoo.com

(09/29/11) The Indian River Central School District in Jefferson County is growing, fast. As the school year began this fall, the district received 90 new students in nine school days. Nearly 70 percent of the district's students come from military families, so numbers fluctuate with deployments and as housing is built on Fort Drum and in surrounding areas. Reporter Joanna Richards spoke with Assistant Superintendent Mary Anne Dobmeier about population trends at Indian River, and how the district is absorbing so many new students after the school year has begun. more

(06/30/11) It's officially summer for North Country children whose school sessions ended last week. Their parents and teachers are hoping they carry an important lesson with them into summer break - exercise.

Schools are spending more time preaching the importance of exercise to combat childhood obesity. At Edwards-Knox elementary school in St. Lawrence County, students start every day the same way - with a fifteen-minute walk outside.

Steve Knight joined Denise Koser's fourth grade class for their morning walk - as well as a yoga session - and sent this audio postcard. more

(04/14/11) Across the North Country, school districts are wrestling with deep cuts to their budgets - the result of Albany's efforts to rein in billions of dollars in deficit spending.

Governor Cuomo has stood firm on his belief schools have the finances to absorb a $1.2 billion cut in education funding. But those cuts are hitting rural school districts especially hard. Educators blame a byzantine and outdated school funding formula. David Sommerstein reports. more

(03/16/11) There's a new school building in a small community in Ethiopia thanks to the work of three SUNY-Potsdam alumni. Alex and Kayla French and their friend Daniel Smith raised $20,000 and helped build a school in Gembeltu, Ethiopia.

For many years, classes were held under a big tree. The new, four-room school is made of mud, eucalyptus and cement.

As part of our series, Moving the World, Todd Moe talks with Alex, Kayla and Daniel about their grassroots fund raising success and humanitarian work in east Africa.

(A public slideshow of their work in Ethiopia will be shown this Saturday, 4:30 pm, in SUNY Potsdam's Kellas 103.)

(02/09/11) Author and national school nutrition expert, Janet Poppendieck, gives a lecture on the state of school lunches in the Potsdam middle school cafeteria Thursday at 7 pm. Poppendieck's presentation, "Working Together to Fix School Food," offers a persuasive vision of parents, teachers, administrators and food service staff, working to guarantee fresh, nutritious food for children as a regular part of the school day. Todd Moe spoke with Poppendieck about her call for school lunch policy reform and healthier food in cafeterias.

(02/02/11) Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered the painful news he has been promising yesterday. He released an austere state budget that leaves no aspect of state government untouched. There are deep cuts to schools, health care, the prison and university systems, and the potential for almost 10,000 state worker layoffs. Karen DeWitt reports from Albany and David Sommerstein has reaction from North Country lawmakers.

(01/07/11) Saranac Lake's school board has voted to close one of its satellite schools next year. The Lake Colby school, which had been used for pre-K and kindergarten students, will be shuttered because of declining enrollments and tight budgets.

The move comes roughly two years after the district closed another elementary school building in Lake Clear. more

(09/09/10) A SUNY Potsdam alumnus successfully raised $20,000 this year to help build a school in a small east African community. Alex French travels back to Gembeltu, Ethiopia this winter to help with some of the finishing touches on the school, and to talk with government leaders who've promised to provide a small yearly budget and a modest salary for the teachers. Todd Moe spoke with Alex French for an update on his humanitarian work in Africa as part of our series, Moving the World.